Concrete Canoe Competition

Our Project:

The American Society for Civil Engineers Student Chapter (ASCE) is a team of undergraduate students tasked with designing and constructing a concrete canoe. The purpose of the task is to engage our creative thinking to design a canoe shape that's stable, but also slim to race at the annual three-day Regional Conference in April while following a set of standards. By using a mix of lightweight aggregates (expanding glass beads and pumice), we are able to create a canoe close to the density of water so the canoe will stay afloat. At the end of February, the team will be ready to place the concrete onto the prefabricated foam mold. After just over 40 days of curing, the canoe will be sent to the host school for this year's regional conference. During the conference, the canoe is first displayed with other schools in the Pacific Northwest. This gives the teams an opportunity to see other schools' designs and discuss strategies on how to improve the canoes for the next year. The next day, the canoe is swamp tested. This involves placing the canoe into the water, filling it with water, and timing how long it takes for the entire gunwale of the canoe to float to the surface. If the density of the canoe is greater than water, teams are able to add bulkheads made of foam board on either end of the canoe encased in concrete.

How funding will help:

Funding is a vital part of attending the annual ASCE Regional Conference and helps provide:

Canoe materials

A major cost the team encounters is purchasing materials to build the canoe. This includes the aggregates, cementitious materials, additives, foam board, and mesh.

Regional Conference

This includes the cost of hotel rooms for 3 nights near the host school, student and school registration fees, and transportation.

Please share our message:

Please help us spread the word about this great opportunity for the team to put their classroom learning into a real team project. Your contributions will help our team showcase our work at the regional conference.

Thank you for your consideration and contribution.